A PUBLICATION OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS
Utili-Facts
Charges on your telephone bill
Your phone bills can be filled with charges that may be complicated or confusing. The following charges, taxes, and surcharges are those most commonly
seen on Texas phone bills.
Basic Local Service – A basic
monthly charge for the dial tone
that enables you to make and
receive calls and allows you to be
listed in the telephone book and
get a copy of the directory.
Extended Area Service – Expands
customers’ local calling area by
allowing them to call additional
contiguous exchanges for a flat
fee, rather than incur long-distance charges assessed on a perminute basis. The size of the local
calling area varies from company
to company. Availability is determined by affected local telephone
companies and communities and
approved by the PUC.
Optional Services – Charges for “miscellaneous” services
such as call waiting, Caller ID, voice mail, or three-way calling
may appear on the phone bill under your local company’s services or on a separate page. Make sure you are being charged
only for those services you have authorized. These services
are not regulated by the Public Utility Commission.
Directory Assistance – Know what each company charges
for directory assistance before placing a call. If the directory
assistance operator offers to complete the call for you, be
aware that you may pay even more.
Local Toll – Local toll calls are made to places that are not
close enough to be in your local calling area. (This service may
be provided by your local phone company.)
Long Distance – Like local toll, most consumers have a regular, or “pre-subscribed,” long-distance carrier. When you dial
“1” plus the area code and the phone number, you are automatically accessing your pre-subscribed carrier, and the call
is billed at the rate the company charges. Note: Dial Around
Service can be used by manually entering another company’s
access code (such as 10-10-xxx) then “1,” the area code, and
the phone number. That company will bill for the call based on
their own rates and fees.
Pay-Per-Call Service – Charges for pay-per-call services
provided through 900 and 800 numbers are set by the service
providers, not the telephone companies. They will appear on a
separate page in your phone bill.
State and Federal Charges
Federal Subscriber Line Charge – Created and regulated by
the FCC, this charge allows local phone companies to recover
a percentage of costs associated with interstate access to
local phone networks. It may also appear as “Fed Subscriber
Line Chg.”
Federal Excise Tax – A federally mandated 3% tax levied on
non-usage sensitive basic local service that is billed separately from long distance service. It may also appear as “Fed
Excise Tax.”
State and Local Sales Tax – State and local tax combined cannot exceed 8.25%. Applies to local charges, non-regulated,
and toll charges.
Federal Universal Service Fee – A federal fee for a fund that
helps bring affordable basic phone service to all Americans,
including schools, libraries, and rural health care providers.
Wireless, pay phone, and some long distance companies add
this surcharge to cover their required support for the fund. The
fee is set by the FCC. It may also appear as “Fed Universal
Svc Fee.”
Texas Universal Service – A state fee for a fund that supports
affordable service to customers in high-cost rural areas, funds
the RelayTexas service and related assistance for the hearingdisabled, and funds telecommunications services discounts
for low-income customers (Lifeline). The fee is set by the
Public Utility Commission.
Local Number Portability Charge – The FCC requires all local
phone companies to make numbers portable from carrier to
carrier so that customers can keep their phone numbers even
if they switch local carriers. Companies are allowed to access
the surcharge for maximum of five years to recover investments in the necessary equipment upgrades.
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9-1-1 Fee – The 9-1-1 fee funds the dedicated 9-1-1 telephone
network that allows callers
to reach a public safety answering point when they dial the
digits “9-1-1.” The amount of the service fee varies by region
and is set by the Texas Commission on State Emergency Communications.
9-1-1 Equalization Fee A fee used to provide financial support
for regions where the 9-1-1 fee does not fully offset the cost
of 9-1-1 service. The fee is imposed on each customer receiving intrastate long-distance service. The fee is set by the
Texas Commission on State Emergency Communications.
Municipal Right-of-Way Fee – Compensates the municipalities for the use of public rights-of-way. It may also appear as
Municipal ROW fee.
State Franchise Taxes or Fees - A franchise tax is assessed to
corporations doing business in Texas. Local telephone service
provided by cooperatives is not subject to this charge.
Public Utility Gross Receipts Tax - Revenues generated from
this tax are used to appropriate funds to the PUC and the
Office of Public Utility Counsel (OPUC). All public utilities, including long-distance companies, pay one-sixth of 1% of their
gross receipts into this fund.
QUESTIONS:
Call:
Expanded Local Calling Service (ELCS) Fee - ELCS expands
rural customers’ local calling scopes by allowing them to call
additional exchanges for a flat fee, rather than incur longdistance charges assessed on a per-minute basis. If the cost
of providing ELCS exceeds the revenues received from the
service, state law allows the local telephone company to
surcharge all Texas customers to make up the difference. The
ELCS surcharge varies among companies. The PUC must approve all ELCS fees and surcharges.
Extended Area Service (EAS) Fee - Extended area service
(EAS) expands rural or metropolitan customers’ local calling
scopes by allowing them to call additional exchanges for a
flat fee, rather than incur long-distance charges assessed on a
per-minute basis. EAS may be either one direction only (oneway) or in both directions (two-way).
If the cost of providing mandatory two-way EAS involving
non-metropolitan exchanges exceeds the revenues from such
service, state law allows the local telephone company to
surcharge all Texas customers to make up the difference. The
PUC must approve all EAS fees and surcharges.
1-888-782-8477, in Austin 512-936-7120 Write:
(TTY 512-936-7136) (FAX 512-936-7003)
PUC - Customer Protection Division
P.O. Box 13326, Austin, TX 78711-3326
Online: http://www.puc.texas.gov/consumer/complaint/Complaint.aspx